• Energy Research

Increasing demand for biofuel production and global competition for the use of natural resources are key factors in finding new and environmentally safe routes for methanol production. In the present study, life cycle assessment was used to analyse the potential environmental impact and environmental cost of a novel methanol production process from wood compared to a conventional processes. Both the novel and the conventional process were divided into three stages: pre-treatment, gasification, and syngas cleaning and methanol synthesis. The environmental impacts were assessed and compared using Simapro 9 (ecoinvent 3.5 database) and the ReCiPe 2016 (World-H) midpoint method. The results, expressed per tonne methanol, showed that the impact categories of global warming potential (GWP) and marine ecotoxicity potential were lower in the novel process in comparison to the conventional process (48.2 kg CO2 eq. vs. 63.1 kg CO2 eq., and 4.55 kg 1,4-DCB vs. 6.35 kg 1,4-DCB respectively). However, the novel process had a higher environmental impact in the pre-treatment stage. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that the GWP of the novel process increased from 48.2 kg CO2 eq. to 216 kg CO2 eq. due to the replacement of Na2CO3 by K2CO3. The human toxicity impact categories showed significant impact on environmental cost. These findings will help relevant industries to reduce their environmental impact and improve the production efficiency of methanol from wood.

Increasing demand for biofuel production and global competition for the use of natural resources are key factors in finding new and environmentally safe routes for methanol production. In the present study, life cycle assessment was used to analyse the potential environmental impact and environmental cost of a novel methanol production process from wood compared to a conventional processes. Both the novel and the conventional process were divided into three stages: pre-treatment, gasification, and syngas cleaning and methanol synthesis. The environmental impacts were assessed and compared using Simapro 9 (ecoinvent 3.5 database) and the ReCiPe 2016 (World-H) midpoint method. The results, expressed per tonne methanol, showed that the impact categories of global warming potential (GWP) and marine ecotoxicity potential were lower in the novel process in comparison to the conventional process (48.2 kg CO2 eq. vs. 63.1 kg CO2 eq., and 4.55 kg 1,4-DCB vs. 6.35 kg 1,4-DCB respectively). However, the novel process had a higher environmental impact in the pre-treatment stage. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that the GWP of the novel process increased from 48.2 kg CO2 eq. to 216 kg CO2 eq. due to the replacement of Na2CO3 by K2CO3. The human toxicity impact categories showed significant impact on environmental cost. These findings will help relevant industries to reduce their environmental impact and improve the production efficiency of methanol from wood.

Over 640 million people in Africa are expected to rely on solid-fuels for cooking by 2040. In Western Kenya, cooking inefficiently persists as a major cause of burden of disease due to household air pollution. Efficient biomass cooking is a local-based renewable energy solution to address this issue. The Life-Cycle Assessment tool Simapro 8.5 is applied for analyzing the environmental impact of four biomass cooking strategies for the Kisumu County, with analysis based on a previous energy modelling study, and literature and background data from the Ecoinvent and Agrifootprint databases applied to the region. A Business-As-Usual scenario (BAU) considers the trends in energy use until 2035. Transition scenarios to Improved Cookstoves (ICS), Pellet-fired Gasifier Stoves (PGS) and Biogas Stoves (BGS) consider the transition to wood-logs, biomass pellets and biogas, respectively. An Integrated (INT) scenario evaluates a mix of the ICS, PGS and BGS. In the BGS, the available biomass waste is sufficient to be upcycled and fulfill cooking demands by 2035. This scenario has the lowest impact on all impact categories analyzed followed by the PGS and INT. Further work should address a detailed socio-economic analysis of the analyzed scenarios.

Over 640 million people in Africa are expected to rely on solid-fuels for cooking by 2040. In Western Kenya, cooking inefficiently persists as a major cause of burden of disease due to household air pollution. Efficient biomass cooking is a local-based renewable energy solution to address this issue. The Life-Cycle Assessment tool Simapro 8.5 is applied for analyzing the environmental impact of four biomass cooking strategies for the Kisumu County, with analysis based on a previous energy modelling study, and literature and background data from the Ecoinvent and Agrifootprint databases applied to the region. A Business-As-Usual scenario (BAU) considers the trends in energy use until 2035. Transition scenarios to Improved Cookstoves (ICS), Pellet-fired Gasifier Stoves (PGS) and Biogas Stoves (BGS) consider the transition to wood-logs, biomass pellets and biogas, respectively. An Integrated (INT) scenario evaluates a mix of the ICS, PGS and BGS. In the BGS, the available biomass waste is sufficient to be upcycled and fulfill cooking demands by 2035. This scenario has the lowest impact on all impact categories analyzed followed by the PGS and INT. Further work should address a detailed socio-economic analysis of the analyzed scenarios.

The goal of this study is to use life cycle assessment (LCA) tool to assess possible environmental impacts of different municipal solid waste management (MSWM) scenarios on various impact categories for the study area Dhanbad City, India. The scenarios included in the present study are collection and transportation (denoted as S1); baseline scenario consisting of recycling, open burning, open dumping, and finally unsanitary landfilling without energy recovery (denoted by S2); composting and landfilling (denoted by S3); and recycling and composting followed by landfilling of inert waste without energy recovery (denoted by S4). One ton of municipal solid waste (MSW) was selected as the functional unit. The primary data were collected through sampling, surveys, and literatures. Background data were obtained from Eco-invent data of SimaPro 8.1 libraries. The scenarios were compared using the CML 2 baseline 2000 method, and the results indicated that the scenario S1 had the highest impact on marine aquatic ecotoxicity (1.86E + 04 kg 1,4-DB eq.) and abiotic depletion (2.09E + 02 kg Sb eq.). S2 had the highest impact on global warming potential (9.42E + 03 kg CO2 eq.), acidification (1.15E + 01 kg SO2 eq.), eutrophication (2.63E + 00 kg PO43- eq.), photochemical oxidation (2.12E + 00 kg C2H4 eq.), and human toxicity (2.25E + 01 kg 1,4-DB eq.). However, S3 had the highest impact on abiotic depletion (fossil fuels) (2.71E + 02 MJ), fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity (6.54E + 00 kg 1,4-DB eq.), terrestrial ecotoxicity (3.36E - 02 kg 1,4-DB eq.), and ozone layer depletion (2.73E - 06 kg CFC-11 eq.). But S4 did not have the highest impact on any of the environmental impact categories due to recycling of packaging waste and landfilling of inert waste. Landfilling without energy recovery of mixed solid waste was found as the worst disposal alternative. The scenario S4 was found as the most environmentally suitable technology for the study area and recommended that S4 should be considered for strategic planning of MSWM for the study area.

The goal of this study is to use life cycle assessment (LCA) tool to assess possible environmental impacts of different municipal solid waste management (MSWM) scenarios on various impact categories for the study area Dhanbad City, India. The scenarios included in the present study are collection and transportation (denoted as S1); baseline scenario consisting of recycling, open burning, open dumping, and finally unsanitary landfilling without energy recovery (denoted by S2); composting and landfilling (denoted by S3); and recycling and composting followed by landfilling of inert waste without energy recovery (denoted by S4). One ton of municipal solid waste (MSW) was selected as the functional unit. The primary data were collected through sampling, surveys, and literatures. Background data were obtained from Eco-invent data of SimaPro 8.1 libraries. The scenarios were compared using the CML 2 baseline 2000 method, and the results indicated that the scenario S1 had the highest impact on marine aquatic ecotoxicity (1.86E + 04 kg 1,4-DB eq.) and abiotic depletion (2.09E + 02 kg Sb eq.). S2 had the highest impact on global warming potential (9.42E + 03 kg CO2 eq.), acidification (1.15E + 01 kg SO2 eq.), eutrophication (2.63E + 00 kg PO43- eq.), photochemical oxidation (2.12E + 00 kg C2H4 eq.), and human toxicity (2.25E + 01 kg 1,4-DB eq.). However, S3 had the highest impact on abiotic depletion (fossil fuels) (2.71E + 02 MJ), fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity (6.54E + 00 kg 1,4-DB eq.), terrestrial ecotoxicity (3.36E - 02 kg 1,4-DB eq.), and ozone layer depletion (2.73E - 06 kg CFC-11 eq.). But S4 did not have the highest impact on any of the environmental impact categories due to recycling of packaging waste and landfilling of inert waste. Landfilling without energy recovery of mixed solid waste was found as the worst disposal alternative. The scenario S4 was found as the most environmentally suitable technology for the study area and recommended that S4 should be considered for strategic planning of MSWM for the study area.

Abstract The oil scarcity and the rise in earth temperature have elevated the interest in lignocellulosic biorefineries. Lignin has high potential to be used in various applications including the production of biomaterials and transportation fuels. Among the different sources of lignin, organosolv lignin has the advantage of being sulphur-free and of low ash content compared to other types of industrial lignin. The present study focuses on cradle-to-gate life cycle and cost assessment of a novel organosolv lignin production process from spruce bark. The system boundary included production of tannin, lignin from spruce bark and handling of waste including all the inputs (material and energy) and outputs (emissions) in the process. Baseline scenario and scenarios S1 and S2 were compared to identify the most environmentally and economically suitable scenario. The baseline scenario is lignin production with co-production of tannin and tannin free bark (TFB) from spruce bark; scenario S1 is lignin production from TFB; and scenario S2 is lignin production from TFB with mass allocation. The functional unit was 1 kg lignin produced and ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H) method was used for the environmental impact assessment. The results showed that the baseline scenario had higher global warming potential (GWP) (2.14 kg CO2eq.) and total cost (1.959 €/kg) than S1 (1.39 kg CO2 eq. and 1.377 €/kg respectively) and S2 (0.23 kg CO2eq. and 0.998 €/kg respectively) scenarios. The results of sensitivity analysis showed that the use of bioethanol instead of ethanol reduced the burden on GWP but increased the burden on the land use impact category.